Lord Mandelson: Lord Speaker’s Corner | House of Lords | Episode 15

Peter Mandelson - former Cabinet minister, leading figure in New Labour and now Lord Mandelson - speaks to Lord McFall of Alcluith about his life in politics.
‘Born into the Labour Party’, Lord Mandelson began a career of campaigning at school, where he was reprimanded by his grammar school headteacher for advocating for comprehensive education.
‘It was very difficult in the 1980s. It made me, of course wonder whether I could ever be a Member of Parliament… And that's when I discovered the innate decency of human beings.’
In this often personal interview, Lord Mandelson reflects on the difficulties he faced when he first stood for selection in Hartlepool in 1989 having been outed as a gay man by the News of the World in 1987. He also explains how the people of Hartlepool rallied behind him in the selection process to become their Labour candidate following an attack by his opponent.
Lord Mandelson shares that he ‘loved being a minister’ and how his experience in television helped him prepare for the task of getting the public onboard with difficult decisions. He also discusses his experience of being in government, from his roles as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Business Secretary and the need for ‘big goals, big missions, clear policies consistently pursued over a long period.’
‘Now, this is a constantly flowing river of poison, of polarisation, of people being mean to and about everyone else. And my advice to politicians now is get off it. I'm not on Twitter.’
Lord Mandelson also reflects on the changing political landscape with the rise of AI and social media culture today, warning colleagues to ‘Get off it, go out on the doorstep, talk to the public.’
‘A lot of clear, honest debate goes by the board, because people are so busy taking chunks out of each other. That's fine. That's the adversarial bit of politics. Our end of the parliamentary system is different. It's about scrutiny, it's about debate, it's about revising, it's about advising.’
Finally, Lord Mandelson offers his perspective on the differences between the two Houses of Parliament, plans for reform and what might be next for him, telling the Lord Speaker ‘I'm looking forward to creating a third career.’
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[@andrewbaldwin4454]

Fascinating interview. So funny how Lord Mandelson was demoted fromPrince of Darkness to the Dark Lord when he entered the House of Lords! I am a Canadian but I am hooked on Lord Speaker's Corner. On the issue of reform of the House of Lords you may be interested in what has been proposed or enacted in the Canadian Senate, our upper chamber. It has always, in a sense, been a chamber to represent the regions, with roughly equivalent number of Senators for Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic Region, and, today, for Western Canada and the Territories. Senators have always been appointed by the federal government. Under Conservative PM Stephen Harper there was a change in the direction of electing Senators, but it didn’t get far. PM Trudeau, as is his wont, introduced a quite dysfunctional reform, expelling Liberal senators from the Liberal caucus, and turning them into faux independent senators. It has only served to reduce the constraints on senators who would otherwise be members of the governing party, and has blurred the distinction between so-called independent senators, and those who are truly independent, with no partisan attachments before or after becoming senators. There is something to be said for the House of Lords to be a chamber for the Home Nations, with residency requirements, say, for a Welsh representative to maintain an abode in Wales. However, I would really question letting the devolved governments choose the Lords for their regions. Proposals to have the provincial governments choose their own senators have never got off the ground, nor should they. Members of an upper house should try to legislate primarily for the good of their country, and not for their region.

[@misc_channels-po6rh]

How is it ok that a Labour member of the House of Lords, John Hutton, also heads an Israeli state-owned arms firm?

[@user-dj3yv6je9n]

Its hilarious to consider theres no law lords in a soverign parliment where laws are supposed to be made 😅

[@wmgi111]

Appointed[speks person as Sr.lords,+111 Approved&Authourised ] as External Affairs Dept[Internal+11],Sr.Director[Academic&Admin],University Of Independent Lords[+100]until reformation infustructural,admin,finaacial,+11 then +111.Thanks.L+Symon.12+3+24/9:31d ETS.